Epic Games launched the Fortnite Mega Drop on Thursday. This offers up to 20% discounts on in-app purchases made on iPhone, iPad or Android, as long as these are direct payments — not ones that go through the App Store or Google Play.
And V-Bucks or real-money purchases made on Mac, PC and other platforms are also discounted by up to 20%.
Update: Apple responded by expelling Fortnite from the App Store.
Fortnite discounts are here to stay
Epic Games emphasizes that these discounts are the new normal for Fortnite players. “This isn’t a sale … these are new discount prices available anytime,” the company says in a blog post.
But don’t look for the new lower prices in the App Store. They are only available for direct payments to Epic Games, an option that debuted Thursday. “When you choose to use Epic direct payments, you save up to 20% as Epic passes along payment processing savings to you,” says the games developer.
The fees Epic Games refers to are the ones Apple and Google charge for all transactions made in their respective software stores. Each takes a 30% share of in-app purchases.
Tim Sweeney, CEO of Epic Games, publicly criticized the App Store for being a “monopoly” and said Google Play “intentionally stifles competing stores.”
Source: Epic Games
